Email has almost replaced letters both in our personal lives and at work; so why do so many people not know how to e-mail properly? It’s so easy to come across as rude or silly in an e-mail and so extra care needs to be taken. Here's how not to send an email.What NOT to do when sending an emailLeave the subject line blank - the subject line is really important. If you need someone to do something with the information then tell them in the subject by marking it ‘ACTION REQUIRED’. Also, when someone is looking for the information you’ve sent (or if your boss asks to find a particular e-mail) it’s so much quicker of you can see at a glance what the e-mail was about, so putting a specific subject line in will make you more efficient.Don’t use a salutation like hello, good morning or dear - there’s never an excuse for being rude; a few seconds spent hoping that someone is well before asking them to do something won’t hurt you and as far as customer relations go, customers like to feel that you care about them.USE CAPITALS – Here’s the thing, using capitals in an electronic message is the equivalent of shouting at someone – is that what you want to do? Basically, caps are never okay in a formal e-mail, NEVERUse a signature line and also type your name - we’ve all seen it – the e-mail signature beautifully set up but then made to look silly with that additional sign off name, so you end up with the sender’s name twice – only amateur emailers do this.Don’t bother checking the spelling or proof reading – always check before you send, you can guarantee you’ll realise your mistake as soon as you hit that send button. Trust me, people judge and it doesn’t look professional.The unnecessary exclamation mark!!! – A bit like capitals, just why?...WHY?!! This flowchart from Business Insider explains it all.Put kisses at the end of your email – ah, the dreaded xx sign off – save them for your parents and friends. You don’t kiss work colleagues, your boss, your teacher or customers.Write an essay – the beauty of email is that it’s quick. It defeats the purpose if you write an essay. Basically, people will get bored and stop reading.The accidental send – we’ve all done it and the recall email option was great...until people kept their email logged in constantly and picked up messages via mobile devices making it almost impossible to recall that email that you accidently sent to your boss rather than work colleague – always, always, always check who you are sending to or better still, don’t put anything in an email that you wouldn’t show to everyone.Finally, think hard about whether you need to send an email at all. If the person that you need to talk to is in your office – here’s a novel idea – go and speak to them. Sometimes we rely too heavily on email communication and it’s really not very personal – it’s also very easy for the person receiving the email to misunderstand the tone in which it was written and get offended.
